After Crossing Over to the Republic of China, I've Become a Heartthrob Chapter 28

Two Hearts

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From then on, Shi Yao devoted himself to his lessons and studies with great perseverance, and with his own excellent foundation in English and Han Pu's personal tutoring, he naturally was able to make impressive progress.

As exam week approached, the teachers were amazed to find that Shi Yao not only attended every class, but also sat in the first row. What started out as an inability to keep up with the rhythm of the class quickly turned into an ability to debate with the professors and become the best student in each of their classes.

As the saying goes, teaching and learning go hand in hand, and in appreciation of the help Han Pu provided, Shi Yao would set aside a specific amount of time each week in between his studies to teach at Xinmin School.

In modern times, to earn a living, Shi Yao often taught English in institutions. His teaching style was unconventional and creative, and he developed his own set of teaching materials which became popular among the students.

For example, 'Natural Phonics', 'Mastering English Grammar in Three Minutes', 'English for Beginners', 'Study Secrets Your English Teacher Won't Tell You', '8000 Words to Memorise for IELTS' and so on.

Where could the people of the Republic of China have seen this before? All of a sudden, the books became overwhelmingly popular, which won great reputation for Xinmin School, and also brought many business investment and cooperation opportunities for Han Pu.

Whenever someone asked Shi Yao, where did you get this set from?

Shi Yao would always say, Professor Han taught me, and I owe everything to his guidance.

When the final exams came around, Shi Yao was full of confidence, sure that he would pass.

But to his surprise, he did not see Jacob in the examination hall.

Thinking back, it had been a long time since they had last seen each other.

Shi Yao thought, Jacob's mind was not on his studies at all, so it was normal for him not to come to class, but to not come to the final exams either?

With his mind preoccupied, Shi Yao came out of school and on his way back, he saw a fight in the alleyway.

It wasn't really a fight, but rather someone being beaten unilaterally.

The Republic of China was supposed to be a chaotic era, so this kind of thing was normal and there was no way to control it, right? He thought, a wise man does not fight when the odds are against him, don't get into trouble and pretend you didn't see it.

But that man looked like he had been beaten up badly, should he really sit back and do nothing?

Shi Yao was struggling internally and kept staring over there, but the more he looked, the more familiar the man looked. Wait a minute, that guy who was getting beaten up, couldn't be, couldn't be Jacob, could it?

Shocked, Shi Yao ran over to him, "Brothers of the road, please be merciful!"

The group of people looked at Shi Yao like he was a dumbass.

Shi Yao swallowed: "This man is my younger brother, what has he done, I'll bear the burden for him."

"You're from the Kong family?" The big man with a scar looked Shi Yao up and down, "What's your name?"

Shi Yao suddenly remembered that Jacob was the illegitimate son of Master Kong, but he couldn't even remember what his Chinese name was, let alone his brother's name.

"I'm not from the Kong family, we're kind of brothers in arms." Shi Yao said with a playful smile, "This gentleman, what exactly has he committed, can't we communicate properly to solve it?"

"Owes money."

"How much."

"You're asking so many questions, will you help him pay it back?"

"I'll pay it back for him." Shi Yao said, "Let me see him."

Jacob sat in the corner, his face covered in bruises, but his blue eyes held a bit of ridicule: "Shi Yao, where did you get the money to help me?"

"Shut up." Shi Yao crouched in front of him and asked in a whisper, "How did this happen? Are you in debt to loan sharks?"

"No," Jacob looked wilted, "the old man of the Kong family died and those people are fighting over the family fortune. They think I'm a half-breed, kicked me out of the house and hired these people to crush me."

"So you don't owe any money?"

"No."

These hooligans were just blatantly bullying the weak!

Shi Yao hated that he was not a superhero and could not fight them off, he could only concede and say, "How much do you want to let him go?"

Shi Yao remembered that a long time ago, he had worked as an interpreter in the gold mine deal for Ling Junde and earned a briefcase full of American dollars, which he kept with Professor Han.

No matter how poor he was, he had never touched this money. He had originally wanted to save it for his future wife, but now he had to use it for an emergency.

After paying and taking the man away, Jacob limped, but did not forget to tease him, "I was right about you, you like me, don't you?"

"At this time, you're still talking about such nonsense." Shi Yao educated him, "Liking can't feed you. Look, you usually have so many old sweethearts, many concubines, where did they all go when you were in trouble?"

"Life is to be thoroughly enjoyed, I don't mind." Jacob's voice was affectionate, "After all, I still have you, don't I?"

Shi Yao patted his face, "Thanks to you, I've lost every penny of my personal money that I've been saving for years, so you should think carefully about what you're going to do."

"I want to go back to England, my mother is over there."

"Okay, then go quickly."

"You're so cold, will you miss me?"

"I'm curious, how will you get to England?"

"By boat."

"I don't suppose the ferry ticket from here to England is cheap?"

"That's right."

"The money for the ticket?"

"I don't have it." Jacob looked at him innocently with his big dark blue eyes, "All I have left is this tattered body."

Desperate, Shi Yao could only sell Song Liao's jewelled cufflinks that he had taken from the Song residence in order to get the money for the ticket.

On the way to send Jacob to the boat, Shi Yao asked him, "Song Liao, have you heard any news about him?"

The setting sun shone on Jacob's eyelashes, giving them a light golden hue: "I heard that you gave your life to keep him alive?"

"It's not that exaggerated, it's Song Yuan," Shi Yao paused for a moment at the mention of Song Yuan, "it's Song Yuan who remembered their brotherhood, it has nothing to do with me."

"Xiao Yao Yao, you're really charming, especially when you're lying."

"Why are you being such a nuisance, tell me quickly, what happened to Song Liao?"

"It's said that he went to the south."

"The south." When they reached the pier and looked at the turquoise water, Shi Yao said, "That's good, it's good that he's alive."

"Do you think he'll come back?"

"I don't know, I hope he lives a good life."

"Enough about him," Jacob asked, "what about me, do you want me to come back?"

"Who cares about you, come back if you want."

"Shi Yao, do you think I've been playing with my feelings?"

"Aren't you?"

"I admit, this is the way I live my life, because it gives me endless freshness and excitement."

"I know it does."

"You don't like it?"

"It doesn't matter if I like it or not," Shi Yao said, "it's a choice, and I respect your way of life, I hope you're truly happy with it."

"Now that I've figured it out," Jacob said as he climbed onto the pier, "now that I'm willing to try something new, will you wait for me?"

"Bon voyage." Shi Yao said.

"I'll be back," Jacob said, "you have to wait for me."

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

Our harem is dropping like flies. Ling Junde is dead, Song Liao was exiled and now Jacob has gone to England.

Please feel free to comment any mistakes I made so I can improve and do better as I go through the book.

Translated: June 27, 2023